2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season

2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers
men's ice hockey season
2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers; men's ice hockey season
NCAA Tournament, Northeast regional semifinal
Conference	7th WCHA
Home ice	Mariucci Arena
Rankings
USA Today	#11
USCHO.com	#10
Record
Overall	19–17–9
Conference	9–12–7
Home	9–8–3
Road	6–7–6
Neutral	4–2–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Don Lucia
Captain(s)	Derek Peltier
Alternate captain(s)	Mike Howe; Evan Kaufmann; Ryan Stoa; Blake Wheeler
	Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey seasons; « 2006–07 2008–09 »

The 2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The team was coached by Don Lucia and played their home games at Mariucci Arena. This season was the second time during Lucia's tenure where all the players were from the state of Minnesota.^[1]

Roster

As of March 24, 2008.^[2]

Goaltenders
#	State	Player	Catches	Year	Hometown (Previous School)	Previous Team
1		Jeff Frazee	L	Junior	Burnsville, MN (Academy of Holy Angels)	USNDT - NAHL
33		Alex Kangas	L	Freshman	Rochester, MN (Rochester Century High School)	Indiana - USHL
35		Brent Solei	L	Senior	Coon Rapids, MN (Elk River High School)	Fairbanks - NAHL

Defensemen
#	State	Player	Shoots	Year	Hometown (Previous School)	Previous Team
2		Kevin Wehrs	L	Freshman	Plymouth, MN (Wayzata High School)	Cedar Rapids - USHL
4		Stu Bickel	R	Freshman	Chanhassen, MN (Eden Prairie High School)	Sioux Falls - USHL
5		Derek Peltier – C	L	Senior	Plymouth, MN (Robbinsdale Armstrong High School)	Cedar Rapids - USHL
6		R.J. Anderson	R	Junior	Lino Lakes, MN (Centennial High School)
20		David Fischer	R	Sophomore	Apple Valley, MN (Apple Valley High School)
27		Brian Schack	L	Sophomore	Lino Lakes, MN (Totino-Grace High School)	Southern Minnesota - NAHL
28		Cade Fairchild	L	Freshman	Duluth, MN (Duluth East High School)	USNDT - NAHL

Forwards
#	State	Player	Shoots	Year	Hometown (Previous School)	Previous Team
7		Patrick White	R	Freshman	Grand Rapids, MN (Grand Rapids High School)	Tri-City - USHL
11		Mike Hoeffel	L	Freshman	North Oaks, MN (Hill-Murray High School)	USNDT - NAHL
12		Tony Lucia	L	Sophomore	Plymouth, MN (Wayzata High School)	Omaha - USHL
13		Ben Gordon	L	Senior	International Falls, MN (Falls High School)	Lincoln - USHL
14		Justin Bostrom	R	Junior	Vadnais Heights, MN (Mounds View High School)	Sioux City - USHL
16		Mike Carman	L	Sophomore	Apple Valley, MN (Academy of Holy Angels)	USNDT - NAHL
17		Blake Wheeler – A	R	Junior	Plymouth, MN (Breck School)	Green Bay - USHL
19		Evan Kaufmann – A	R	Senior	Plymouth, MN (Robbinsdale Armstrong High School)	River City - USHL
21		Tom Pohl	L	Senior	Red Wing, MN (Red Wing High School)	Tri-City - USHL
22		Ryan Flynn	R	Sophomore	Lino Lakes, MN (Centennial High School)	USNDT - NAHL
24		Mike Howe – A	R	Senior	St. Cloud, MN (St. Cloud Apollo High School)	River City - USHL
25		Drew Fisher	L	Freshman	International Falls, MN (Moorhead High School)	Sioux Falls - USHL
26		Jay Barriball	R	Sophomore	Prior Lake, MN (Academy of Holy Angels)	Sioux Falls - USHL
29		Ryan Stoa – A	L	Junior	Bloomington, MN (Bloomington Kennedy High School)	USNDT - NAHL

Junior forward Ryan Stoa suffered a knee injury during the team's October 13, 2007 win over Michigan. He missed the remainder of the season.^[3] Sophomore forward Kyle Okposo left the team on December 19, 2007 to sign with the New York Islanders.^[4] Senior defenseman Tom Pohl suffered a skull fracture during the team's WCHA first round playoff series with Minnesota State, ending his hockey career.^[5]

Season standings

Note: PTS = Points; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

2007–08 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t e
	Conference							Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#8 Colorado College†	28	21	6	1	43	95	52	41	28	12	1	136	88
#4 North Dakota	28	18	7	3	39	85	53	43	28	11	4	129	80
#9 Denver*	28	16	11	1	33	75	67	41	26	14	1	116	94
#15 Minnesota State	28	12	12	4	28	71	75	39	19	16	4	106	97
#14 St. Cloud State	28	12	12	4	28	79	74	40	19	16	5	118	94
#13 Wisconsin	28	11	12	5	27	68	68	40	16	17	7	114	102
#12 Minnesota	28	9	12	7	25	64	70	45	19	17	9	109	109
Minnesota–Duluth	28	9	14	5	23	55	76	36	13	17	6	74	91
Michigan Tech	28	9	15	4	22	55	77	39	14	20	5	78	99
Alaska–Anchorage	28	3	19	6	12	54	89	36	7	21	8	81	112
Championship: Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 Poll

Regular season

#	Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Score	Goaltender	Record	Points
1	October 12*^†	vs. RPI	#6	Xcel Energy Center • St. Paul, MN	4–3	Frazee	1–0–0	—
2	October 13*^†	vs. #9 Michigan	#6	Xcel Energy Center • St. Paul, MN	4–3	Frazee	2–0–0	—
3	October 19	@ #10 Colorado College	#3	World Arena • Colorado Springs, CO	1–3	Frazee	2–1–0	0
4	October 20	@ #10 Colorado College	#3	World Arena • Colorado Springs, CO	1–2 (OT)	Frazee	2–2–0	0
5	October 25*	#14 Ohio State	#10	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	3–1	Frazee	3–2–0	—
6	October 26*	#14 Ohio State	#10	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	2–1	Kangas	4–2–0	—
7	October 27*	U.S. Under-18 Team (exh.)	#10	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	3–1	Solei	4–2–0	—
8	November 2	#7 Denver	#8	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	1–5	Frazee	4–3–0	0
9	November 4	#7 Denver	#8	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	1–4	Kangas	4–4–0	0
10	November 9	@ Minnesota State	#14	Alltel Center • Mankato, MN	4–3	Frazee	5–4–0	2
11	November 10	Minnesota State	#14	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	5–3	Kangas	6–4–0	4
12	November 16	Alaska Anchorage	#12	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	3–0	Frazee	7–4–0	6
13	November 17	Alaska Anchorage	#12	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	2–4	Frazee	7–5–0	6
14	November 23*^‡	@ #6 Michigan State	#15	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, MI	3–3 (OT)	Kangas	7–5–1	—
15	November 24*^‡	@ #2 Michigan	#15	Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, MI	1–5	Frazee	7–6–1	—
16	November 30	Michigan Tech	—	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	2–3 (OT)	Kangas	7–7–1	6
17	December 1	Michigan Tech	—	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	3–1	Frazee	8–7–1	8
18	December 7	@ #8 North Dakota	—	Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, ND	2–4	Frazee	8–8–1	8
19	December 8	@ #8 North Dakota	—	Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, ND	4–3	Kangas	9–8–1	10
20	December 29*^$	RIT	#12	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	3–4	Frazee	9–9–1	—
21	December 30*^$	Air Force	#12	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	2–2 (OT)^Ħ	Kangas	9–9–2	—
22	January 4*	Wayne State	#12	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	5–1	Solei	10–9–2	—
23	January 5*	Wayne State	#12	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	5–2	Kangas	11–9–2	—
24	January 11	#15 St. Cloud State	#14	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	1–3	Kangas	11–10–2	10
25	January 12	@ #15 St. Cloud State	#14	National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, MN	4–4 (OT)	Frazee	11–10–3	11
26	January 18	@ Minnesota Duluth	—	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center • Duluth, MN	1–1 (OT)	Kangas	11–10–4	12
27	January 19	@ Minnesota Duluth	—	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center • Duluth, MN	2–1	Kangas	12–10–4	14
28	January 25	@ Wisconsin	—	Kohl Center • Madison, WI	1–3	Kangas	12–11–4	14
29	January 26	@ Wisconsin	—	Kohl Center • Madison, WI	2–2 (OT)	Kangas	12–11–5	15
30	February 1	#3 North Dakota	#15	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	1–2 (OT)	Kangas	12–12–5	15
31	February 2	#3 North Dakota	#15	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	1–1 (OT)	Kangas	12–12–6	16
32	February 8	@ #7 Denver	—	Magness Arena • Denver, CO	1–1 (OT)	Kangas	12–12–7	17
33	February 9	@ #7 Denver	—	Magness Arena • Denver, CO	1–4	Kangas	12–13–7	17
34	February 22	#12 Wisconsin	—	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	4–2	Kangas	13–13–7	19
35	February 23	#12 Wisconsin	—	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	4–4 (OT)	Kangas	13–13–8	20
36	February 29	@ Alaska Anchorage	—	Sullivan Arena • Anchorage, AK	1–1 (OT)	Kangas	13–13–9	21
37	March 1	@ Alaska Anchorage	—	Sullivan Arena • Anchorage, AK	4–1	Kangas	14–13–9	23
38	March 7	Minnesota Duluth	#14	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	4–1	Kangas	15–13–9	25
39	March 8	Minnesota Duluth	#14	Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, MN	2–3	Kangas	15–14–9	25
*Non-Conference Game. ^†IceBreaker Invitational. ^‡College Hockey Showcase. ^$Dodge Holiday Classic. ^ĦShootout Win 2–0 (4 rounds) ^#Rankings from USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll released prior to games.

Postseason

WCHA Playoffs

#	Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Score	Goaltender	Record
1	March 14*	#10 Minnesota State	#15	Alltel Center • Mankato, MN	0–1 (2OT)	Kangas	15–15–9
2	March 15*	#10 Minnesota State	#15	Alltel Center • Mankato, MN	2–1 (OT)	Kangas	16–15–9
3	March 16*	#10 Minnesota State	#15	Alltel Center • Mankato, MN	3–2 (2OT)	Kangas	17–15–9
4	March 20^†	#8 St. Cloud State	#12	Xcel Energy Center • St. Paul, MN	3–2	Kangas	18–15–9
5	March 21^‡	#2 Colorado College	#12	Xcel Energy Center • St. Paul, MN	2–1 (OT)	Kangas	19–15–9
6	March 22^$	#6 Denver	#12	Xcel Energy Center • St. Paul, MN	1–2	Kangas	19–16–9
*WCHA First-Round (best of three). ^†WCHA Final Five Quarterfinal. ^‡WCHA Final Five Semifinal. ^$WCHA Final Five Championship. ^#Rankings from USA Today/American Hockey Coaches Association poll released prior to games.

NCAA Playoffs

#	Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Score	Goaltender	Record
1	March 29*	#7 Boston College	#11	DCU Center • Worcester, MA	2–5	Kangas	19–17–9
*NCAA First-Round (Northeast Regional). ^#Rankings from USA Today/American Hockey Coaches Association poll released prior to games.

Season Stats

Scoring Leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Blake Wheeler	31	13	13	26	60
Ben Gordon	32	10	12	22	16
Jay Barriball	31	3	13	16	28
Mike Hoeffel	32	6	6	12	16
Evan Kaufmann	32	5	7	12	46
R.J. Anderson	32	5	7	12	24
Mike Howe	29	4	8	12	4
David Fischer	32	2	10	12	14

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	SO	Sv%	GAA
Alex Kangas	18	1095	5	6	0	.923	2.14
Jeff Frazee	14	798	6	7	1	.890	2.93
Brent Solei	1	60	1	0	0	.966	1.00

Awards and records

Awards

WCHA

All-WCHA Third Team: Blake Wheeler
All-Rookie Team: Cade Fairchild

References

^ "Minnesota vs. Ohio State Game Notes" (PDF). gophersports.com. University of Minnesota Athletic Communications. October 23, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 11, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2007.
^ http://www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&KEY=&SPID=3322&SPSID=38856 ^{[dead link]}
^ Deutsch, Brian (October 16, 2007). "Gophers will finish season without Stoa on the ice". Minnesota Daily. Archived from the original on July 23, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
^ "Sophomore Okposo leaves Minnesota to sign with Islanders". ESPN. December 19, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
^ "U's Tom Pohl says he's lucky, not bitter after skull fracture". StarTribune. March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.

[1] "Minnesota vs. Ohio State Game Notes" (PDF). gophersports.com. University of Minnesota Athletic Communications. October 23, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 11, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2007.

[2] ttp://www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&KEY=&SPID=3322&SPSID=38856 ^{[dead link]}

[StoaOut-3] Deutsch, Brian (October 16, 2007). "Gophers will finish season without Stoa on the ice". Minnesota Daily. Archived from the original on July 23, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2008.

[Okposo-4] "Sophomore Okposo leaves Minnesota to sign with Islanders". ESPN. December 19, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2008.

[Pohl-5] "U's Tom Pohl says he's lucky, not bitter after skull fracture". StarTribune. March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.

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v t e Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	St. Paul Hippodrome (1923–1934) St. Paul Auditorium (1932–1950) (occasionally) Minneapolis Arena (1925–1950) (primary arena) Williams Arena (1950–93) 3M Arena at Mariucci (1993–present)
Head coaches	I. D. MacDonald (1921–23) Emil Iverson (1923–30) Frank Pond (1930–35) Larry Armstrong (1935–47) Doc Romnes (1947–52) John Mariucci (1952–55, 1956–66) Marsh Ryman (1955–56) Glen Sonmor (1966–71) Ken Yackel (1971–72) Herb Brooks (1972–79) Brad Buetow (1979–85) Doug Woog (1985–99) Mike Guentzel (1996) Don Lucia (1999–2018) Bob Motzko (2018–present)
Seasons	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	WCHA (1951–1958, 1959–2013) Big Ten (1958–1981, 2013–present)
Rivalries and trophy games	Minnesota Duluth North Dakota St. Cloud State Wisconsin Mariucci-Bessone Trophy with Michigan State Mariucci-Renfrew Trophy with Michigan
Culture & lore	Mariucci Classic North Star College Cup
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders John Mayasich (298 Points) John Mayasich (144 Goals) Kellen Briggs (84 Wins)
National championships	1974 1976 1979 2002 2003
Runner-Up Finishes	1953 1954 1971 1975 1981 1989 2014
Frozen Four appearances	1953 1954 1961 1971 1974 1975 1976 1979 1981 1983 1986 1987 1988 1989 1994 1995 2002 2003 2005 2012 2014 2022 2023
NCAA Tournament appearances	1953 1954 1961 1971 1974 1975 1976 1979 1980 1981 1983 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2021 2022 2023 2024
Conference Tournament titles	WCHA 1961 1971 1974 1975 1976 1979 1980 1981 1993 1994 1996 2003 2004 2007
Notable players	Aaron Broten Neal Broten Kellen Briggs Mike Crowley Tim Harrer Jordan Leopold John Mayasich Pat Micheletti Todd Richards Robb Stauber
Hobey Baker Award winners	Neal Broten (1981) Robb Stauber (1988) Brian Bonin (1996) Jordan Leopold (2002)
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN